Sant'Egidio Fair

The Sant'Egidio Fair, the heart of the September Festivities in Lanciano

Every year, on the evening of August 31st, the historic center of Lanciano, a city in the province of Chieti in Abruzzo, transforms into a large open-air market for the Sant'Egidio Fair. Piazza Plebiscito, Corso Trento e Trieste, and the surrounding streets fill with stalls that, starting at 9:00 PM, draw families, curious onlookers, and visitors from across the Frentano region. It is the event that officially launches the famous September Festivities, the month of events that defines the Lanciano summer.

The Bell Festival

The fair is popularly known as the Festa della Campanella, named after its most authentic symbol: small, colorful, and often hand-painted terracotta bells, displayed in every size among the stalls. Alongside them, you will find traditional wooden toys, sweets, wicker baskets, tools, and artistic handicrafts. Over a hundred exhibitors enliven the center every year, in a riot of sounds and colors that renews an ancient atmosphere.

The legend and the tradition

Saint Egidio, a Benedictine abbot who lived between the 7th and 8th centuries, is venerated as the protector of the sick and particularly of lepers, who according to tradition carried a staff with a bell attached to signal their arrival in town. Hence the deep bond between the saint and the bell. Popular memory also preserves a tender custom for lovers: boyfriends would gift their sweethearts a basket full of fruit, while the girls would reciprocate with a bell, exchanging gifts at nightfall away from the eyes of their parents.

A ritual that opens the Lanciano September

The Sant'Egidio Fair is more than just a market: it is the gateway to the September Festivities of the Municipality of Lanciano, which in the following weeks feature historical pageants, re-enactments, early music concerts, markets, and shows. Experiencing the fair means immersing yourself in one of the most deeply rooted traditions of Abruzzo, where street commerce intertwines with popular devotion and the memory of gestures passed down from generation to generation.

Useful information

• Where: Piazza Plebiscito, Corso Trento e Trieste, and the streets of the historic center of Lanciano
• When: The evening of August 31st, starting at 9:00 PM (in case of bad weather, the event is postponed to the following day)
• What: Terracotta bells, wooden toys, sweets, handicrafts, and local products
• Admission: Free